September 2013

…Egypt, foreign agendas, unloved liberals, the ballet company dances on; Tunisia suggests how to guarantee freedoms; can Erdogan’s power be curbed? Serge Halimi, five years on; where now for the euro? Eastern Europe’s ‘nuclear bloc’; future imperfect for school textbooks; Peru’s new property bubble; the boy-girls of Saudi Arabia… and more…

“The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands, bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it; if it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.”
Franklin D Roosevelt, 22 May 1932
It’s five years since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, on 15 September 2008. Since then, the legitimacy of capitalism as a way of organising society has been undermined; its promises of prosperity, social mobility and democracy (...)

Many countries have signed international conventions guaranteeing democracy and human rights, but there is — as yet — no authority to ensure those commitments are honoured and no sanctions for those who dishonour them.

The world, especially the US, has reacted pragmatically to the July coup, its repressive aftermath and Mubarak’s release from prison. They want to protect the interests of nations other than Egypt, peace with Israel, military agreements and the suppression of Al-Qaida.

The response of prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to this summer’s protest movement in Turkey made clear his worsening authoritarianism. Yet his AKP party was founded on inclusivity and pragmatic compromise.

Four former eastern bloc countries have not only not given up on nuclear power: they are expanding their generating capacity to become more energy independent, in the hope of exporting electricity to Germany.

The state-sponsored education systems of 19th-century Europe created the initial demand for school textbooks and over time they grew into a steady publishing business. Now, with globalisation, that business is facing stiff competition.

For years the governments of Peru, and the municipality of Lima, had a working deal with rural migrants who flocked to the city: we’ll plan the place, you build it, amenities will arrive. Then came the cheap neoliberal substitute of granting land titles — and the speculation began.